What happened
Shares of Western Digital (WDC 2.49%) have gotten crushed today, down by 16% as of 1:30 p.m. EDT, after the company reported fiscal fourth-quarter earnings. The results were mixed compared to expectations and guidance left a lot to be desired.
So what
Revenue in the fiscal fourth quarter was $4.29 billion, shy of the $4.34 billion in sales that the market was hoping for. That resulted in adjusted earnings per share of $1.23, narrowly topping Wall Street's forecast of $1.22 per share in adjusted profits. The computing storage technology company incurred $96 million in incremental costs related to the COVID-19 outbreak.
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"While we continue to navigate through a dynamic environment, we remain focused on managing the business for the long-term, including ramping two important product lines to high volume: our SSD products and our energy-assisted capacity enterprise drives," CEO David Goeckeler said in a statement. "We will continue to deliver the quality, performance and cost-effectiveness our customers rely on, and I am confident that our end market diversity and breadth, broad customer base, channel reach, and innovative leadership all position Western Digital to benefit from the multi-year growth in data creation and storage."
Now what
Guidance for the next quarter calls for revenue of $3.7 billion to $3.9 billion, which is significantly below the $4.4 billion in sales that analysts were expecting. Adjusted earnings per share should be $0.45 to $0.65, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.32 per share.
On the conference call with analysts, management noted that the company faced significant supply chain disruptions during the fiscal year due to the coronavirus.
